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Order books for new Volkswagen ID hatchback to open in May

Posted on Sunday, March 17, 2019 by Judy Cobb

Order books for new Volkswagen ID hatchback to open in May

Volkswagen is gearing up its electric-car onslaught, adding more battery vehicles to expand a bet that has already strained profit margins at the world's largest carmaker.

"The Group is planning to launch nearly 70 new electric models in the next ten years - instead of the 50 previously planned", it said in its release, adding that the number of vehicles built using its electric platforms would increase from 15 million to 22 million. VW's pursuit of a dedicated format rather than a more flexible one emulates e-car pioneer Tesla. Diess also added that they will not be following other companies who are building hybrid vehicles as going the fully-electric route will be the most efficient way for them cut their Carbon dioxide emissions.

And he expects the vehicle to be an instant hit.

Transitioning to a fully electric production line will likely be an expensive endeavor for the company. VW is retooling whole plants to make room for its specifically developed platform.

Volkswagen states that first adopters of the I.D. will receive special, launch-edition cars, but has not specified how these will stand out from subsequent models.

"We will need to make job cuts, and achieving this purely through fluctuation and partial retirement will be hard", Diess said on Tuesday.

To accommodate this, VW has announced it plans to increase investment in "future technologies" to 19 billion Euros by 2023, an increase of 8 billion Euros over its original plans. For the Audi E-Tron and the Porsche Taycan, VW's first two battery cars that are part of a 70-model onslaught until 2028, VW said it has received 20,000 reservations each-with Porsche boosting planned production because of high demand. As a result, the projected number of vehicles to be built on the automaker's MEB electric platform in the next decade will increase from 15 million to 22 million.

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